salisbury



(No Model.) S 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

' S. O. SALISBURY.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING 'ILLUMINATING GAS. N Ii 4.

'W'z't has-sea. In veal Er. a. zyfmw lfi ai A N. PETERS.Photo-Lithographer. Washington. D. c.

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

S. 0. SALISBURY. PROCESS 0]? AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURINGILLUMINATING GAS.

No. 300,802. I'i flatented June 24, 1884.

N. Pzl'Ens PhnmLilho m hu. Washmglon. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT @EETcE,

SILAS O. SALISBURY, OF NEWV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO LEVI P. ROSE, OF

' YONKERS, NEWV YORK.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING lLLUMlNATlNG-GAS.

.wPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 300,802, dated June24, 1884.

Application filed December 6, 1883.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SILAS O. SALISBURY, of the city, county, and Stateof New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Processes ofand Apparatus for Manufacturing Illuminating-Gas, of which the followingis a specification.

The object of this invention is to utilize a much larger proportion ofthe coal than can be done by the ordinary process of making coal-gas, aswell as to utilize and make into gas a large proportion of the wasteby-products, called coal-tar, and also during process of manufacture upto a full twenty-five candle-power that will not smoke in burningthrough, say, a four-foot burner.

In the manufacture of the ordinary coal-gas it is customary to chargeeach retort, when at a cherry-red heat, with about three hundred poundsof bituminous coal, and then close the retort. During the first hour avery rich gas passes off, and with .it comes a large amount of oilymatter, which condenses in process of washing and passes to what istermed tar. During the second, third, and fourth hours a much lessamount of gas is made, and very much reduced in its richness orcandle-power, but becomes mixed in the holder, and so mixed produces agas of about fifteen candles, and all attempts made to enrich thiscoal-gas by using a richer coal, called cannel coal, is done at greatlyincreased cost and reduction of the size of the burner, or else a smokygas is obtained, and it is a well-known fact that by this process alarge proportion of the gaseous product contained in the coal remains inthe coke and gas-tar, &c. My process aims first to prevent theproduction of so much coal-tar and to enrich the poorer qualities named,and abstract a much larger proportion of the gaseous matter from thecoals, leaving much less coke and coal-tar, and increasing the capacityof a bench of coal-retorfs from twenty to sixty thousand cubic feet eachtwenty-four hours, increasing its illuminating qualities fullytwenty-five per cent., and yet reducing the actual cost of the gas thusproduced fully thirty per cent. below the actual cost of the ordinaryprocess of manufacturing coal-gas.

In order to prove that my theory and pro- (N0 model.)

cess are based on scientific and correct principles, I have proved thesame to be as described in actual practice, producing results named, andin order that others may be able to con struct and alter presentcoal-gas works to my plans and mode of making gas, I will now fullydescribe such alteration and additions to present coal-gas works as willenable gas-engineers and their assistants to make such alterations aswill produce such quality of gas as herein named. v

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a bench of retorts. Fig. 2 is alongitudinal vertical section showing a modification in arrangement.Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical central section.

I place an iron retort, A, of about six inches diameter, over, say, theside above the second retort, as shown, in a bench of five retorts. Thisiron retort extends through the brickwork of the bench containing thefive clay retorts, having bearings the entire length to prevent saggingor bending when at a white heat, and projecting outside of each end ofthe brick-work, on which I place caps screwed or otherwise. On the frontcap I have an inletpipe, I), and outlet-pipe c, of two-inch bore. Totheinlet b, I attach a two-inch pipe, extending same to within twoinches of the rear end of said main pipe, leaving it open at this end. Ithen charge this main retort A with iron turning and'pieces of pig iron,or fill same with, say, three-quarter-inch iron pipes, leaving a spaceat each end of two inches. I then screw on caps, connect theinlet-pipewith a two-inch steam pipe and valve leading to the dome ofsteam-boiler. I attach to the outlet'pipe C a two-inch branch pipe, (2,above the front of the bench of retorts in most suitable place. To thisbranch pipe I attach, say, three-quarter-inch pipe with valve, and whichleads to' and is attached to an injector, E, say, to the main tube ofsame,which injector is attachedthat is, the delivery endto a pipe, F,say, of one-inch diameter. This pipe F is placed, say, inside of athree-inch pipe, G, both runnipg full length of the inner part of one ormore of the clay retorts, say L. The rear end of the pipe G has a cap orplug, and the pipe F is open at rear end and discharges its con I00superheated.

tents, say, within two inches of the rear end of the pipe G, so thatwhatever kind of gas is discharged through the pipe F returns throughthe pipe G. Now, this three-inch pipe G is perforated with, say,one-eighth of an inch holes, H, say, a distance of three inches apart,of two rows, on sides for the gas to escape among the coals, or I maydispense with the outer three-inch pipe, G, if found unnecessary. Now,to the outer shell of the injector I attach oil-pipes I, with suitablevalves, which oilpipes lead to the main branch pipe J, which suppliesliquid hydrocarbon, preferably already highly heated. Now, when theretorts L are heated up to the required temperature for making coal-gas,they are charged with, say, three hundred pounds bituminous coal. Lidsare then fastened on. Steam is admitted at once from the boiler throughthe inlet-pipe b. During its passage to the rear end of the iron retortA it (the steam) becomes highly By the time it is discharged at the rearend, and on its return through the densely-packed iron or pipes, whichare at a cherry-red heat, it becomes decomposed, and a large proportionof the oxygen contained in the steam being absorbed by the iron, theremaining gas, as it is delivered out of the outlet-pipe in front intothe branch pipe 0, is heated to, say, 1,000". I now start the injector Eand deliver through pipes F in retorts, say L, this hi ghly-heated gas,which diffuses itself through the coal and takes up the richer gases,

' reduces the same to a required quality of fixed gas, and preventsescape of the oily substance forming tar, and during the first hour ofthis process all of the very richest of the products of the coal willhave been mixed with that hydrogen gas and form a very richcarbureted-hydrogen gas. After the first hour I admit a small quantityof the hot liquid hydrocarbon to each of the injectors with thehydrocarbon gas, and the injectors mix the two-hydrogen andoilthoroughly,andforcethesamethrough pipes I and G on the inside ofthese gas-retorts-say L, and deliver the same gas vapor through andamong the hot coals, causing it to enrich the gas escaping from thecoals to the quality required, and I continue to enrich this vapor-gaswith the liquid hydrocarbon until the end of six hours, and in suchmanner as will continually produce a full twenty-fivecandle-power gas.The coals, being porous, absorb the richer portions of the hydrocarbonvapors and gradually prepare the same to mix and perfect and then unitewith the remaining gases contained in the coal, and

at the end of six hours the coal removed will be found to have partedwith most of its gaseousproducts,and the coke left, only about half ofits usual bulk and weightfwill fully supply the amount offuel requiredto heat the number of benches .of retorts required to make gas needed.By this processsay the first hour using the very hot hydrogen gas orgases of decomposed steam which causes 'a' very rapid decomposition ofthe coal, liberates its quickly, and uniting same with the gases derivedfrom the decomposed steam, forming a very rich hydrocarbon gas, and, asthe coal has been deprived of its richer oily gases, thus enriching thehydrogen or liberated gases from the decomposed steam, with the hotliquid hydrocarbons in gradual increased proportions in full accordancewith the diminished richness of the gases derived from the coal, so asto keep up the standard quality of twentyiive-candle-power gas to theend of six hours. It will thenbe found fully one-third more gas has beenobtained from the coal than usual, but with a diminished quantity oftar' and coke,&c. ,and a much richer quality of gas from a poorerquality in gas-holder, and in every respect far superior to what isknown as water-gases, which are known to contain thirty to forty percent. of carbonic oxides. This process being very simple and easilyunderstood, and the attachments easily and cheaply made, existingcoal-gas works can be altered very quickly, and can be replaced ordetached so that in case of oil giving out, or from any cause it becomestoo expensive to use the liquid hydrocarbons, they could use thefirstnamed gases with coal for purposes named, and discontinue sameafter the very richer gases have been utilized as named; or, if thehydrocarbon liquids cannot be obtained to enrich the poorer gases, theymay be enriched at intervals of two hours with a small quantity ofcannel coal, shale, or rosin, and then continue the use of hydrogen anddecomposed gases derived from steam, which will at once utilize the sameand produce fully as rich a gas as formerly named, which gas so producedfrom cannel coals or rosin will not smoke in burning through largeburners, as would be the case without the aid and uses of gases named,and the increased cost of such cannel coal or rosin used for enrichingwill be fully compensated for by increased quantity of gas and itsuniformity of quality and the utilization of the usual wasteby-products. I can modify this arrangement in case of erecting newbenches of retorts. In such cases I would only use coal in the threeupper retorts, L, and connect the two lower retorts, K, on each sidewith the two upper retorts directly over the same at the back end, as inFig. 2, and in that case fill up much of the'space of the two lowerretorts with hollow brick tiles and deliver into the front end of thesetwo lower retorts through an inch pipe, M, and return to front endthrough a three-inch pipe, N, a rich vapor-gas, which would be perfectedby contact with the heated surfaces of the perforated tiles P, and passout of the rear end up into the upper retorts, and then combine with thecoal-gas as made, and in this case I would only charge up the upper tworetorts every six hours. The effect of this arrangement would be to usea less amount of coal and less coal-gas and an increased quantity ofvapor oil-gas in combination, and this would be val u able when coal wasdear and poor and liquid hydrocarbon cheap. In practice, I have foundthis to be most perfect and economical, and producing sufficient fuel ofcoke to heat up the retorts, and at the same time utilizing all of thecoal, making very little tar, and I have also found it to utilize all ofthe richer products of the vapor of liquid hydrocarbons and preventingany Waste products-such as free carbon, &c.; and, again, I find that gasmade by each of these modes will not condense at very low temperature.

Having fully described the mechanical and chemical means ofaccomplishing my results and process of manufacturing ill uminating-gasfrom coal and other gases named,

I claim 1. The retort K, connectedat one end, with the coal-retort aboveit, and provided with the pipes M N and the perforated tile partitions Ifor preparing hydrogen gas and passing it into and through a charge ofdistilling-coal, as set forth.

2. The process of making illuminatinggas,

which consists in delivering hydrogen gas or the liberated gases ofdecomposed steam i111 among the red-hot gas-coals within the retortduring the early stages of its decomposition, thereby reducing thecoal-gas to a standard quality and preventing its condensation into tar,and afterward introducing a light hydrocarbon vapor regulated in qualityand gradually increasing the quantity of said hydrocarbon as therichness of the coal-gas diminishes, whereby a predetermined standard ofgas is uniformly produced from the beginning to the end of the charge.

3. The process of manufacturing illuminating-gas from coal, whichconsists in introducing under pressure, first, hydrogen gas or theliberatedgases from decomposed steam, and afterward, such hydrogen gasaccompanied by hydrocarbon vapors, increasing in quantity of hydrocarbonas the richness of the coal diminishes, whereby said introduced gasesare forced into and through the mass of coal in the retort, andtheextraction and union of the gases are facilitated.

SILAS c. SALISBURY.

\Vitnesses .T. NnLsoN LUOKEY, WEsLEY H. BRoNsoN.

